Fashion Hurts
by Frob
Summary: Dawn is laughed at in her school by girls: she does not wear high-heels because they hurt her fragile feet. She tries to hide her condition from her friends and family. One day her desire to wear heels leads her secret to be revealed to Ash and a series of misadventures begin.


A pair of pink shoes was lying on green grass in a small park. Just next to them there was a pair of slender feet in white socks. The owner of those feet was a dark-blue haired girl , who was sitting on the grass, probably waiting for someone to come. She took her pink hat off her head when suddenly her phone rang and her small thin hand slipped in to the pocket of her skirt and grabbed a Smartphone of a popular brand.

"Ash, you promised that you'll be here in an hour!" She complained annoyed by the delay of her friend's arrival.

"Don't worry, Dawn. I will be there! Trust me!" A voice came from the phone.

"I have trusted you long enough, but as always you are late. This matter cannot wait a second". The girl said angrily.

"I am not your boyfriend and you are not my girlfriend. This is not a date I am late for! I will be there in a couple of minutes. Deal with it". The friend on the phone complained.

"Ok then, see ya". The girl sighed and put the phone back in her pocket. She mumbled, repeating Ash's words: "…not your boyfriend…not my girlfriend".

After a few minutes Ash was already sitting near Dawn.

"Did you bring the high-heels I asked you to store for the time being?" Dawn questioned her friend.

"I still do not understand why you need to hide three pairs of high heels…" Ash wanted to say, but Dawn cut him off:

"Just give me the black ones. I will walk around in them a little bit".

Ash quietly gave her the black heels. Dawn put them on her feet and whispered moaning:

"Ah…they hurt already".

"Why do the heels hurt?" Ash asked with some concern in his voice.

"Oh, it is nothing. Help me stand up". Dawn gave her hand to Ash. As he pulled her up Dawn screamed in pain. Ash let her go and she fell on the ground.

"Why did you let go?!" Dawn yelled angrily.

"Dawn…" Ash wanted to protest.

"I just tripped". Dawn said and stood up only to fall again. Then she managed to stand up for ten seconds and walk around. She shrieked in pain and fell on to the ground half-conscious.

"Take the heels off!" Ash commanded and reached to Dawn's feet in order to rid her of the notorious shoes.

"No…" Dawn refused raising her head from the grass in a final attempt to stand up.

"Dawn, relax, it is not such a big deal!" Her best friend tried to calm the disturbed girl down, but he made matters worse:

"IT IS FOR ME!" Ash heard a shout and a heel hit his face and knocked him on the ground. Dawn gasped and began to cry.

"I am sorry…"She apologized after a time through tears loud enough for Ash to hear. Meanwhile rubbed the bruise on his cheek and did not answer. He approached the sobbing girl and stood a little while near her waiting for her to calm down:

"Dawn, please…stop crying…I hate it when you cry". He even whispered to her ear.

"I…I…I cannot wear heels because they hurt my feet very bad… The girls at school make fun of me, call me Pink Boots… I want to be like every other girl, I want to wear heels" .Dawn murmured still sobbing.

"Let me call Brock, he'll know what to do. He's a doctor after all…a Pokémon doctor…Still he'll know what's best for you". Ash announced putting his hand on Dawn's shoulder and taking his cell phone out of his pocket.

"No, no…This should stay a secret". Dawn protested and grabbed Ash's phone.

"Hey, give it back!" Ash jumped at Dawn to take the phone from her. They began rolling in the grass. Ash reached for the phone, but Dawn kept it from him as far away as possible.

"No…Never!" Dawn threw the phone away and it hit the tree breaking in half.

"Dawn…my phone…" Ash whispered hissing like a snake, but then raised his voice: "You broke my phone!"  
"I had no other choice". Dawn tried to acquit herself.

"I had enough from your nonsense". Ash announced quietly and went towards the exit of the park.

"Ash, wait! Please!" Dawn called him and stood up. A numb, but strong pain stroke her feet and she fell on the ground. She noticed that the heels were off.

"ASH, HELP ME!" The girl yelled like crazy. Lucky for her there was no one in the park to hear her shriek.

All the anger that Ash had inside him turned in to pure concern. He rushed to Dawn:

"What's wrong?"

"My feet! They hurt so bad that I can't stand up even without heels".

"Let's take you to the hospital. The doctors will patch you up in no time". Ash instantly took Dawn in his arms.

"Ash, how many times do I have to tell you: I do not want anyone to know!" Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Alright…We'll go to my place then. I will put some icepacks on your feet". Ash offered.

"Can you give me a foot massage after that? Ah… I think I really need one". Dawn asked moaning from pain.

"Sure. Let me carry you all the way to my house".

"No, no. I will lean on your shoulder. Put me down and give me my boots". The girl demanded and her order was instantly fulfilled.

Dawn barely managed to stand up and lean on Ash's shoulder.

"Let's go". She murmured clinching her teeth from pain and they set towards the Ketchum residence. Their "journey" was going fine for a while, but they were stopped by a group of close friends: Lyra, Kenny, Annabel and Professor Oak. To their surprise they hadn't seen them for over a year.

"Oh, no". Ash and Dawn pronounced at the same time.

_To be continued…_


End file.
